I came out of the water after 45 minutes and felt alright, my back and legs were a little worn as I had focused on my kicking technique for the later half of the session. I suited up into my running attire and strapped on my heart rate monitor - ready to go. I input the data into the treadmill and began to warm up but something felt off. My legs were heavy and I was becoming fatigued quickly at a very slow pace. My run was not feeling as it has in past endeavors... so I decided to attempt to cycle instead which felt just as awkward. So after literally 3 minutes of attempting to workout, I walked out of the gym - why?
Even the greatest athletes in the world take time off to recover and can tell when they are just not 'feeling it'. I myself am not proclaiming to be a great athlete, but I am a smart one from my experience and when something isn't right, that is when I call it quits. People who push themselves at times like this are the ones who become frequently injured due to constant overtraining. I have endured the pain of overtraining before and due to my experience, the best remedy is time off to recover.
My plan? I took the rest of yesterday off and today to receive the much needed rest to return back to normal for my future workouts. I have put a lot of effort into my training and I can afford a couple days of rest to ensure a healthy training season. I would rather 2 days off than 2 months off nurturing an injury.
Here are a few common symptoms indicating you should rest and avoid the overtraining syndrome:
- If it doesn't feel right or you feel exhausted with what used to be simple
- If your sleeping patterns change or you wake up in the middle of the night
- You crave sweets and chocolate
- You get easily agitated or frustrated at little things
- You increase caffeine intake to stay awake
- You fall asleep in the afternoon which prior was uncommon
If you fall victim to any of these - take a day or two off for rest and recovery. A healthy athlete is a smart athlete.
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